sábado, 11 de junio de 2011

Science review


Gregory B. Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, at a forum this week on the Fukushima disaster.

Report Blasts Management Style of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman

A report says Gregory B. Jaczko ran roughshod over fellow commission members while carrying out the president’s directives to phase out planning for the Yucca Mountain site.

I.B.M. Researchers Create High-Speed Graphene Circuits

The advance, reported in the journal Science, may have applications that include future smartphone and telephone displays.
John Sinfelt

John H. Sinfelt, Who Helped Introduce Unleaded Gas, Dies at 80

Dr. Sinfelt devised a way to replace the lead and maintain octane levels when oil companies were pressured to remove lead from gasoline by the E.P.A.

The Periodic Table Expands Once Again

Elements 114 and 116 were made by scientists smashing atoms of other elements together.
Pat O'Connor spraying insulation in the attic of a home in Flourtown, Pa.

U.S. Is Falling Behind in the Business of ‘Green’

Strong incentives in European and Asian countries have given them the lead in clean energy technologies.
 Gov. Chris Christie called for revisions to New Jersey’s 10-year energy master plan at a news conference in Trenton on Tuesday. Here, he spoke at the National Guard Armory in Toms River.

Calling for ‘Achievable’ Target, Christie Plans Cut in State’s Renewable Energy Goals

The plan sets the amount of electricity to be obtained from renewable sources at 22.5 percent by 2021, down from 30 percent.
Science Times: June 7, 2011
The Caribbean box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, has two complex eyes with a lens, cornea and retina, as well as one or more simple eyes that can distinguish light and dark.
Anders Garm and Jan Bielecki
The Caribbean box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, has two complex eyes with a lens, cornea and retina, as well as one or more simple eyes that can distinguish light and dark.
Jellyfish have long been dismissed as so much mindless protoplasm with a mouth. Now, in a series of new studies, researchers have found that there is far more complexity and nuance to a jellyfish than meets the eye.

After 90 Years, a Dictionary of an Ancient World

Scholars at the University of Chicago have completed a project that includes 28,000 words from ancient Mesopotamia, covering a period from 2500 B.C. to A.D. 100.
FINDINGS

Could Liquid Nitrogen Help Build Tasty Burgers?

To produce the best burger, one needs advanced scientific cooking techniques, a former Microsoft executive says.
Elena Aprile

Women Atop Their Fields Dissect the Scientific Life

Four researchers taking part in the World Science Festival talked with The Times about their lives as scientists, the joys and struggles of research, and the specific challenges women in science face.
  •  Women in Science: Gina Kolata Interviews Elena Aprile, Joy Hirsch, Mary-Claire King and Tal Rabin
Health News

Government Says 2 Common Materials Pose Risk of Cancer

Government scientists listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and said styrene may cause cancer, but the main threat is to workers in manufacturing.
Bean sprouts grow in a tube at Jonathan Sprouts in Rochester, Mass.

The Poster Plant of Health Food Can Pack Disease Risks

As a horrified Europe learned over the past month, sprouts are a high-risk food for carrying harmful bacteria like salmonella or the toxic forms of E. coli, according to experts.
NEWS ANALYSIS
A doctor treated a victim of the E. coli outbreak at a hospital in Germany on Monday. The source of the germ remains unknown.

Elusive Explanations for an E. Coli Outbreak

The German health authorities are struggling to identify the contaminated food behind the deadly E. coli outbreak.
STRATEGIES A study at New Roads School in Santa Monica, Calif., asked high school sophomores to match graphs and equations in an online drill.

Brain Calisthenics for Abstract Ideas

Traditional classroom learning is generally rules first, application later. However, researchers are finding that repeated exposure to patterns seems to deepen understanding.
WELL

Piercing the Fog Around Cellphones and Cancer

So what do we really know about cellphones and health? Here are some answers to common questions about the issue.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE Dr. Jonathan Samet is chairman of a World Health Organization committee that found cellphones to be

A Doctor Who Must Navigate a Contentious Divide

An international agency’s finding that cellphones are “possibly carcinogenic,” has put Dr. Jonathan Samet in the middle of a scientific debate.
More Multimedia

SLIDE SHOW: Discovering Science on Governors Island

Children identified plant species, built robots and gazed at the sun as part of a World Science Festival event on Governors Island.

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: What Makes Music Expressive?

What makes music expressive? Quiz yourself based on new research.

SLIDE SHOW: Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?

Photos and stories of pets that were viewed differently by family members.

Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer

Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
SCIENTIST AT WORK BLOG
The cookie-like sea biscuit, Clypeaster humilis, is very common in some sandy localities. The petals on the top are rows of tube feet used for respiration. The flattened shape belies its relationship to sand dollars, and serves to help it put a lot of tube feet down on the sand surface to gather food.

The Hidden World of Heart Urchins

Many people, divers included, are unaware of an entirely different world of echinoids that live buried in the sand.
GREEN BLOG

Answering Questions About Food Supply

Responding to an article on the world's future food security, readers pose questions about the potential for future grain shortages, price spikes, the use of water, chemicals, and energy to produce meat and dairy products, and overpopulation. Justin Gillis replies.
Science Columns
Q & A

Flies in the Dark

Most species of flies, with mosquitoes one notable exception, are indeed just daytime fliers.
OBSERVATORY
A gorilla in Uganda. The animals eat extra protein when fruit is scarce.

Protein-Rich Diet Helps Gorillas Keep Lean

Protein makes up about 17 percent of the total energy intake for mountain gorillas in Uganda. That’s close to the 15 percent protein intake the American Heart Association recommends for people.
OBSERVATORY

Waves of Warmth In a Penguin Huddle

A coordinated movement allows every emperor penguin a chance to move from the colder outer region of the huddle into the warmer inner region.
OBSERVATORY
Halicephalobus mephisto eats bacteria and grows no bigger than two hundredths of an inch.

Gold Mine Treasure: A New Worm

A tiny nematode from a shaft of the Beatrix mine in South Africa is the first known multicellular organism to dwell at such depths.
Podcast: Science Times
Science Times Podcast
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This week: The science of hamburgers, women scientists and the brain of a jellyfish.
Opinion
DOT EARTH BLOG

Paul Watson Recalls Civil War's Whale Wars

A modern-day whale warrior looks back at one of his role models - from 1865.
WORDPLAY BLOG

Numberplay: The Museum and the Casino

A puzzle asking for the best strategy in a hypothetical casino game, provided by Glen Whitney, a founder of the Museum of Mathematics, which plans to open in New York City in 2012.

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